By Hannah Blackwell
One in four Welsh football referees have suffered physical abuse, according to a survey published by the Football Association of Wales.
They also claim almost nine out of 10 officials suffer verbal abuse and over half of all officials believe the problems are getting worse.
Those issues are combining to convince many referees to pack up officiating.
Sport lecturer, Welsh football coach and former referee, Sean Regan said: “It put me in a position that made me decide that I wouldn’t continue with refereeing. It just made me question, ‘is it worth it really?’.
“I feel like there needs to be a change in culture. We will not have football, grassroots football, or any other sport, without officials. We need to act and behave on the side of the pitch the way we think we should act and behave walking down the street, or in our office.
https://twitter.com/FAWales/status/1692069245839155217?s=20
There are currently only 50 women registered as referees in Wales.
Foster became the first Welsh official to take charge of a football World Cup match in 45 years at the recent Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The Bangor referee was in the middle for Brazil’s 4-0 demolition of Panama in Adelaide.
She also took charge of the third-place play-off between Australia and Sweden.
Foster earned 63 caps for her country as a player and starred for Liverpool.
